THREE members of a smash and grab gang who raided a Guildford jewellers with a sledghammer were all young and naive, a court has been told.

Their alleged accomplice - 22-year-old Jordan Phipps, of Tanhurst House, Redlands Way, Streatham Hill, south London - did not appear alongside the trio at Guildford Crown Court on Monday and a warrant is out for his arrest.

Because they are only 15 and 16, legal restrictions prevent the youngsters from being identified, but all pleaded guilty to the robbery at Mappin & Webb on March 20, when £84,150 worth of items were stolen.

Francis McGrath, barrister for one of the trio, attempted to have the charge dismissed on the basis that no force was used or threatened against anyone during the course of the raid.

CCTV from the shop was shown to the court, showing four masked individuals entering and smoke being released after an alarm was set off, before two women were seen to flee the scene.

Prosecutor Toyin Salako said: “Four people coming into a shop dressed in the way they are, all armed, it’s an inferred threat. You can see what they are about to do.”

Judge Christopher Critchlow dismissed the barrister's appeal, describing the raid as a “classic smash and grab”, after which the robbers were caught red-handed.

He adjourned sentencing for the three teenagers to July 24, pending reports. They will remain in custody until then.

Representing a 15-year-old defendant, Mr McGrath said his client, who lives with his mother and has not offended before, could be described as a “victim of a type of child abuse” through his involvement in the crime.

“Someone approached him and suggested that getting involved in this offence might be a good idea,” he said, adding that the teenager was then shown the type of rewards on offer at Mappin & Webb on the internet.

Defending one of the 16-year-olds, Janick Fielding said his client, who came from a supportive family, had become involved because of “naivety, youth and stupidity".

The third defendant, a GCSE student who worked as a volunteer at a youth centre, was described by his barrister Richard Reynolds as an “impressionable, naïve 16-year-old who has been exploited by older men".